Secondhand Lions (2004, VHS)

I try to catch movies while they're in the theater as much as possible, but once in awhile a great one slips by me. Luckily I did finally catch this one on DVD. Man I wish I had seen it on the big screen.

This is one of those stories where old-meets-young and they both learn something. Not a new premise at all, but done ever so much better here. Haley Joel Osment is the young lad in this case. His mom is a gold-digging idiot who drops him off at her great uncles' house.. uncles who have been missing for 40 years and only just resurfaced. Rumor has it they are hording millions. Osment is dropped off rather unceremoniously on the two grumpy guys with orders to find the moolah.

Now the uncles, Michael Cain and Robert Duvall, really want nothing to do with any relations at all.. especially not a kid. But life happens and the bonding happens, and everyone has their eyes opened just a bit. Along the way we meet a delightful old lioness, watch traveling salesmen get shot at, and learn the background of just where these two were for so long. It's a great ride. No, It's a fantastic ride.

Everything about this movie had me riveted and enchanted. I was sitting here alone and yet laughing right out loud at parts, and trying not to cry in other parts. All three stars handled their roles adeptly, contrary to some who think Osment may have been a bit too emotional in spots. I beg to differ on that one. I think given the boy's circumstances with his completely immature mother and her constant abandonment and lies, he would likely react to things a bit more intensely. Good job by Osment, I say. I liked him just ok in Pay it Forward and Artificial Intelligence, but in my eyes his real claims to fame were The Sixth Sense and now Secondhand Lions.

But then, I imagine it isn't that hard to be good when sandwiched in between such greats as Caine and Duvall.. Both are consumate actors who have never had a misstep that I'm aware of. From Caine's Blame it on Rio and Cider House Rules to Duvall's Sling Blade and Apocalypse Now, every last role was spot on with these two.

Now, some movies have a nice journey, then end a bit flat. Not so here at all. I won't tell you what eventually happens with the uncles, but I will tell you that it is one of the best parts of the movie. Even if the movie had sucked, that ending would have made it worth watching. Just excellent and so damn fitting of their personalities...

Now I want to address some mild criticism that this movie has gotten regarding Duvall's character telling Osment to believe in something, anything, even if it isn't true. Some folks didn't much care for that at all.. I loved it. Everyone needs to believe in something, and many do believe something that is patently not true, yet they try to push it down everyone's throat as if it were fact..the only fact. These are the folks condemning that line. Funny, eh? I do happen to think that it is inherently human to need to believe in something. Yanno what? It doesn't matter what that something is as long as it doesn't hurt anybody. I believe in myself, some folks will tell ya just how silly it is to believe in me! heh.

At any rate, the point is, this is a great movie that deserves to be in the top ten of the year. I know it's going to cause me to rearrange my own 2003 top ten list as soon as I get the time to do so. This is rated PG and I do think you should go buy it now and make it a family night.

Five stars without hesitation.